I write this from Srinagar, Kashmir. This morning’s papers say that I may be arrested on charges of sedition for what I have said at recent public meetings on Kashmir.

I said what millions of people here say every day.

I said what I, as well as other commentators have written and said for years.

Anybody who cares to read the transcripts of my speeches will see that they were fundamentally a call for justice.

I spoke about justice for the people of Kashmir who live under one of the most brutal military occupations in the world; for Kashmiri Pandits who live out the tragedy of having been driven out of their homeland; for Dalit soldiers killed in Kashmir whose graves I visited on garbage heaps in their villages in Cuddalore; for the Indian poor who pay the price of this occupation in material ways and who are now learning to live in the terror of what is becoming a police state.

Yesterday I traveled to Shopian, the apple-town in South Kashmir which had remained closed for 47 days last year in protest against the brutal rape and murder of Asiya and Nilofer, the young women whose bodies were found in a shallow stream near their homes and whose murderers have still not been brought to justice.

I met Shakeel, who is Nilofer’s husband and Asiya’s brother. We sat in a circle of people crazed with grief and anger who had lost hope that they would ever get insaf—justice—from India, and now believed that azadi—freedom— was their only hope.

I met young stone pelters who had been shot through their eyes. I traveled with a young man who told me how three of his friends, teenagers in Anantnag district, had been taken into custody and had their finger-nails pulled out as punishment for throwing stones.

In the papers some have accused me of giving ‘hate-speeches’, of wanting India to break up.

On the contrary, what I say comes from love and pride. It comes from not wanting people to be killed, raped, imprisoned or have their finger-nails pulled out in order to force them to say they are Indians.

It comes from wanting to live in a society that is striving to be a just one.

Pity the nation that has to silence its writers for speaking their minds. Pity the nation that needs to jail those who ask for justice, while communal killers, mass murderers, corporate scamsters, looters, rapists, and those who prey on the poorest of the poor, roam free.

53 comments

Why don’t you talk of the history of Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian government’s financial lifeline of Kashmir, and the barbaric agenda of Geelani’s organization (and of his medieval criminal legal code, the Sharia)? You are the classic pseudo-intellectual.

Can somebody please give her a Noble peace prize to shut her up. Anyway it being given out like kadlekai, so somebody please do this noble deed.
See Al gore … They gave it to him and he happily shut his trap

Is this lady so moronic that she cannot imagine what will happen to Kashmir (and Kashmiris) if India were to just give it away? Their fate would be worse than that of the Afghans under the Taliban.

Just a few days after she wrote her 32 page essay describing Maoists as helpless, gentle, peaceful folk, they slaughtered dozens of security personnel.

Now she comes out dripping with compassion for the rabid, neanderthal, stone-throwing Islamists in Kashmir. It is in plain sight for everyone to see that what they want is not Azadi…Freedom is too lofty a word to be comprehensible to these madrasa-bred stone-throwing traitors. What they want is not freedom in the real sense, which they will get in abundance in India. They want to live in the pigsty of the worst form of Islamic fundamentalistm.

Pretty soon, there will be Islamic uprisings in West Bengal and Kerala, the first tremors of which are being felt already.

Expect this idiot of a lady to jump headlong into these uprisings as well, to which she will doubtless lend a veneer of pseudo-intellectual polish, much to the delight of the medieval beasts in India (and their Pakistani masters) instigating such upheavals.

Touche! Psst..don’t say such things aloud. Sri Sri Sri would get an attack of fits. He has been angling for that. Ofcourse it’s difficult to differentiate between these two..both are publicity mongers par excellence..Gender did you say? Err..is it different?

@Fellow Haida,
S^3 is no match to Ms Roy. See how conveniently she has timed it to the arrival of Ombaba. She wants to ensure that she is making enough noise to draw the attention of Ombaba’s press coterie ;) S^3 is not even on churumuri … Somehow get Ombaba to spell her name out and the she is well ahead in the line for Noble peace. Maybe an interview on Rachel Maddow is already in the works …

Read the detailed history of accession of the princely states of Junagarh, Kashmir and Hyderabad.

When have we ever treated Kashmir as an “integral part of India”?

Terrorism has been the excuse used to deny the average Kashmiri basic facilities of a good education and a secure life.

We wouldn’t feel too patriotic ourselves if every moment we lived in fear of becoming the next victim of an insidious State(s). Kashmir should have been bolstered and made into our strength against none-too-trustworthy neighbours. Instead it has become our greatest weakness.

The average Kashmiri is tired of being merely a pawn, a weapon of black-mail in South-Asian politics. He/she wants a chance at a normal life, something that’s been denied him/her throughout the history of independent India.

Bhookey-nangey Hindustan indeed! In the state of Jammu and Kashmir, it is Jammu that drives the economy, while it is the Valley of a Kashmir a mere sliver of a few 100 sq.km. that lives off Central budgetary support and the blood sweat and tears of the people of Jammu. It is the bhookey nanga Hindustani who with his taxes and who with her labour sustains the thugs of the Kashmir Valley. Arundirty Roy is an ignorant little moron. It’s delicious irony to see this pompous twit make common cause with thugs like Geelani who dreams of Sharia law in J&K!

Arundhati, please go away from India, anywhere in the world. You belong to that 1% of English speaking persons who are ignorant of the country;s history, who claim to be secular, who have no sense of patriotism or national pride. Go away. I am sorry that the media is giving you so much of importance. The moment they start ignoring you, you will be finished

Independence means another Afghanistan with barbaric medieval laws and mindset. Damned if we keep it with us, damned if we don’t. Only solution is changing religious demographics. The only solution that is there and no one is willing to talk.

That’s superb job ..atlest some one have guts to speak againts injustice in country like INDIA , we need more work like this ! Indian youth is much mature than before , and we must accept that we have to think in rational way . everything cannot be solved by political manner , if it would had to be soved then INDIAN govt. had enough time , I personaly belive that this matter should be transferd to UNO .

Ms. Roy, do you know about what US did to Afghanistan and Iraq on the name of bringing freedom. The citizens there are in worst situation than before. You think if Kashmir is freed the citizens will be happy?. No..it will be the death toll of all Hindu’s staying there and the Muslims too will suffer at the hands of Taliban, Al Qida or what ever forces they have there.

There are scores of Muslims there like me who prays that Indian Army succeeds in bringing peace to us. You are an outsider here, please go back to your state Ms. Roy.. you are not needed here. There are bad incidents from security forces but the good outweighs the bad ones…

“Ms Roy reminded the Kashmiris at the meeting that she was hurt by their slogan – bhooka nanga Hindustan, jaan se pyara Pakistan – saying that the slogan insulted the poor masses of India. But some reports distorted this, and the headlines screamed that she had asked for secession from poverty-stricken India. ”

Why is the Indian media implying the exact opposite?Can churumuri put up a full transcript of her speech?

This is exactly how the English might have reacted when Annie Beasent started the Indian National Congress seeking self determination for Indians. Just because our stupid kings signed the accession treaty does not mean that all Indians were happy under the British.

Why don’t we have a plebiscite and let the Kashmiris decide if they want to stay in India, be independent or Join Pakistan? Why should we hold a people by force and rule over them if they are not happy being a part of India? How much of our tax payers money is being spent on this? How many innocent soldiers and paramilitary personnel are being killed because of this madness.

Let the people of Kashmir decide what is good for them. By saying so I am no less an Indian than any of you who are shouting your heads off. Being patriotic is not being slavish and accept all atrocities being committed by the state in the name of national interest.

Your extreme pamphleteering makes great reading. However, this time you have surpassed yourself in making illogical and non-verifiable statements.

i) You visited graves of Dalits on top of garbage heaps in Cuddalore?
ii) You met stone pelters who had been shot through their eyes?! Really? And survived?
iii) You are ready to believe that finger-nails of teenagers were pulled out as gospel just because a young man seeking Azadi says so?

And thanks to the English media, you’re now an International celebrity. Desperately seeking to become India’s Noam Chomsky? Jai Ho

Arundati Roy is the worst n’ biggest publicity monger currently in india, she says she fights for the oppressed and down trodden. Many people forgot that the tribals have protested in front of her bunglow in MP, for illegally occupying their land. Where was she at that time?
This lady is clear bugger, she tries extract as much emotion with her statements by making them as democratic as possible.
“the brutal rape and murder of Asiya and Nilofer, the young women whose bodies were found in a shallow stream near their homes and whose murderers have still not been brought to justice” does she know anything about the case, it was proved beyond doubt by a panel of doctors from AIIMS that the women died because of drowning and the lady Asiya is a virgin with her hymen intact. From where will she bring the murderers when there’s none.
The best revenge we cant take is to deny Arundati Roy her share of publicity by just neglecting her statements.

“Barbaric Medivial sharia Code” – Well, do not judge other people’s culture and religion through your glasses. Don’t get me wrong.. I do not condone the sharia and I strongly hope that the muslims in india will give up some of those practices just like how hindus have totally given up Sati, and at least all hindus publicly oppose untouchability. You stating that India has given economic life line to Kashmiris and that their practices are barbaric sound very similar to what the colonial British said about Indians when they were here. None of what you say would condone colonial occupation. Kashmiris should have the right to self determination and Arundathi is correct is speaking up for the rights of Kashmiris.

Angry Young Man,

Churchill said the same about Indians (in a more colorful language) when we were about to get Freedom and probably he was right after witnessing our MLA’s behavior over the past two weeks. But, would we prefer British to rule over us to get good governance? Freedom is a social aspiration that cannot be substituted with promises of material wealth for very long. Kashmiris will have figure out their future by themselves.

Maosits – Have you ever stayed and worked in the villages? Do you have any idea how the poor tribals and landless laborers are treated by the land owners and state machinery there? I had been part of the government and worked for 2 years in such areas and I am being honest, I could not take it any longer. I did not have the courage to take on the system nor could I live with it. I just quit and ended up being a maoist sympathizer. Yes, some Maoists are greedy, selfish, amass wealth for themselves and kill innocents. But… Innocent tribals and landless laborers are raped and killed every day when the state machinery turns a blind eye to their problems and in fact get hand in glove with the landlords and perpetuate endless crimes on these hapless people. Where do these people go? What do they do? They become Naxalites…

The Media,- electronic and press, and Govt. should ignore her… totally.That will make her trivial. If you don’t give publicity to her in just over a week she will be a nonentity.. forever attention-seeking, Publicity for her is like a piece of rotten meat for a rabid frothing dog.. so deny her that. she will be just finished.Foreign press too would get tired of her if there is no support internally..

Roy is a cheap publicity [hound], nothing better. I sometimes think she may be a pawn of Pakistan or the US. She recently stated that “India is colonising Kashmir” and Kashmir was never a part of India.

1. She will embrace Islam very soon like Kamala Das did.
2. She will get a Noble prize in about two years time because the Nobel committee will decide she qualifies for the prize because she is Indian and a champion of minority rights. QED.

Precedent-based common law, civil legal systems, laws that are clear and determinate, and an independent judiciary are fundamental to defining progressive societies that protect the rights and dignity of individuals. Unchanged and retrograde nonsense such as the Sharia — which, based on a 1,400-year-old Divine Will based religion — is incompatible with our “rule of law” society. Would you like to be subject to barbaric Sharia nonsense, like stoning, cutting off of limbs, if you committed a crime? I sure would not! It reflects poorly on the Religion of Peace, in my view.

And It is a bit absurd to compare Sharia practices and sati. It is like comparing beef kabab with khaman dhokla… Sharia is directed at others deemed criminally heretical or kufrs by the self-appointed custodians of a medieval Religion of Peace. Sati was a stupid, cruel, self-deprecating practice predicated on individual conduct directed at one’s own self, initiated in Rajasthan as an extreme response against the curse of violent Muslim invasions. Sati was never part of any ecclesiastical law; nothing like it appears in Hindu law, ancient or modern, not even in the smriti of the oldest law-giver of all, Manu. Please get some perspective, sir!

Many people agree under which circumstances the Naxalite movement has started, but does it justify that every time there is a injustice u pick up the gun and start shooting the system.
Tell me frankly what did Maoists achieve in these years? apart from battling with police and destroying the schools, railway stations, telephone centres. I don’t see any worthwhile thing. It’s the state policy towards poor not the policy towards naxalites that need to be changed.

And one more thing kashmiris protest and throw stones for every thing, every says that they have come on to roads for freedom. Did all of them forgot the Amarnath shrine aggitation when a piece of land was donated to the trust by the Governor. They created a huge hue and cry blocked everything destroyed their tourism industry and increase unemployment. Now for all these they blame india.

And for the matter of fact, even pakistanis know that india won’t give a single inch of land from kasmir due to military and geo-political strategies.

Dear
Go and see condition of pak occupied Kashmir, u guys want life which is worst than what u had now. so go a head with Gilani and keep arundhati roy with u. we do not want such kinf of people in india.

>> You say you do not “condone” Sharia; yet, you are not judging it? :)

I have many personal Views. But I am under no illusion that my personal views are better than all other views. I do not judge others through the lens of my personal beliefs and preferences.

If facts and situations warrant I have no problem in changing my views and I am not dogmatic about any of my personal preferences.

Personally I agree with you that Sharia is not in tune with modern times. I totally agree with you that concrete steps needs to be taken to offer liberal progressive education to muslims and provide them with alternatives. I would strongly encourage and support all progressive thinkers to openly challenge the relevance of Sharia laws in the modern society. Having said that I do not subscribe to your line of argument that because muslims follow sharia, Kashmiris cannot govern themselves. It is for the Kashmiris to determine the kind of legal system that they want to follow, if they prefer to be independent from India. You argument is very similar to the British arguing that Indians were unfit to govern themselves because hindus follow the caste system and have barbaric practices like sati and child marriage. It is like the Americans proclaiming that they saved the Iraqis/Afghani people from tyrants and medieval interests.

Regarding Sati, It does not matter whether it was in the scriptures or not. It was what was in practice. I completely disagree with you that it was self induced. The Male dominated society treated the the women as their material property and induced the women to commit sati. The society sanctified and glorified Sati by providing it religious sanction with acts like building temples. The women had no choice and were compelled by societal and familial pressure to enter the pyre of her husband. Your argument that Sati was self-induced is akin to the muslim conservatives arguing that Hijab/Burkha is actually preferred by muslim women! Yes some Muslim women might declare that they love the Hijab…But in reality we know that it is the societal and familial pressures that force her to this posture.

Anyway, My point was lost in your attempt ti justify your argument. I was in fact appreciating our hindu society for showing the moral courage to change certain prevalent norms that were not in tune with the times and I was extolling our Muslim brethren to emulate the same. I was not equating Sati with Sharia FYI.

Maoist movement is not a reaction of picking up a gun shooting everybody. It is an evolutionary response to the years of subjugation that the tribals and landless laborers had to undergo. What else do you do when you are not allowed to vote, you are indebted all your life to the landlord and have to work on his field for little or no money and your women are raped right in front of you at will? What will you do when the “civil society” turns a blind eye? When the Police,Administration and Political systems gangs up to perpetuate this horror? You take to guns!

What have they Achieved? They have succeeded in bringing the plight of these unfortunate people to the national attention and discourse. They have redistributed thousands of acres of land to the landless laborers. They have given dignity to the landless laborers. They have offered protection to the less fortunate from the oppressors (in the form of landlords and state machinery). In other words they have done what the “Elected Government” was supposed to do for the under privileged.

With regards to Kashmir, All I am asking why don’t you allow the Kashmiris to choose their future. Why do you want to hold them against their will.Hold a plebiscite and if they choose to be independent, It is their choice. Who are we to tell them what is good for them?

Time and again, you hear the secessionists use the word “Kashmiris” in their utterances. Kashmiri aspirations, Kashmiri pride, Kashmiri sensitivities etc.

That’s all fine, but pray tell me, where was this Kashmiri consciousness when baying mobs hounded the Pandits out of the valley? Where was this sense of Kashmiri brotherhood which supposedly makes your hearts bleed for your fellows? Why is it that even today, no one among you raises so much as a whimper in support of the Pandits who are still living in refugee camps? And why, may I ask, the only people clamouring for azaadi are muslims? Why aren’t Hindus and Sikhs among your cohorts?

It is very simple: The so-called “Kashmiri movement” is a manifstation of politican Islam. If you took away all the Kashmiri muslims from the valley and replaced them with muslims from elsewhere, you will still hear the same clamour for Azadi.

All this talk of “Kashmiriyat” is hogwash, a mere facade, just sheep’s clothing under which the wolf of Islamic extremism hides.

India must deal with these people with an iron hand. Don’t allow security forces to commit brutalities, but send out the clear message in both word and deed that secessionism will not be tolerated.

Another important thing to remember is this: at the moment things look pretty bad for India in Kashmir, but this is a nation state, and we can wait. We have the resources and the money to wait – wait and wait and wait. Things will take a turn for the better eventually. Doesn’t matter how long, but we can wait. We should be in no hurry to compromise on Kashmir right away just because of the prevailing sentiment there.

Finally, to those who compare this movement with the Indian freedom struggle, remember this: The Indian independence movement was founded on sound principles and morality. The present day unrest in Kashmir has no such basis. The rallying cry here is not aspiration for real freedom. It is the worst form of religious rabidity. Do your worst, but you will not be allowed to succeed.

I have a feeling these ISI types are producing propaganda where they must have been showing the 72 houris and others as mostly made up of ‘virginal’ Aishawarya, Manly Vidya Gopalan, Twisted teeth Priyanka, Dopey eyed Kapoor of Deepika fame, Deepika of her own fame and so on. In DB’s psyops we need to let these jihadis know or convince them that the list of 72 houris is actually made up of ‘virginal’ A Roy, Barka Dutt, Teesta, Sonia G, Ambika Soni. Sushma Swaraj, Shobha K, President Patil and other sundry maidens who belong to the school of ‘Antidote to Desire’ and so on. Trust me the Jihadi problem will be solved in a microsecond! Thanks!

1. Land eater China who has already gobbled Tibet, now eying Arunachal Pradesh & Kashmir
2. Original inventor of Terrorists Pakistan already bankrupt financially and morally-Eying Afghanistan/Kashmir.
3. India Democratic. In arundhati`s probable words , probably if it fits India is the best of the worst!
4.Kashmir is land locked and as Azad Kashmir is surrounded by the above three countries-Always have to be dependent .

Now Think Arundhati which of these three countries kashmir should prefer or remain dependent for many generations surrounded by two of the BIG countries and one Trickster & bankrupt Pakistan!

Arundhati has repeatedly asked for justice for Kashmiri pundits, but Times Now is not interested in mentioning that, only their TRPs. And anyone with a basic knowledge of Indian history can see that the logic of Hyderabadi and Junagadhi accession was conveniently stood on its head in the case of Kashmir. I have never felt that Kashmir is an integral part of India.

The reactions to Arundhati Roy are occasionally as bombastic as her statements themselves.

That is not a good sign.

The best way to deal with any polemic is to calmly respond to the substantive points being made, with substantive points of your own.

Thus, you could ask Arundhati, after addressing her courteously, what Kashmir would do, being independent? Would their nation-state survive in the middle of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and China? Perhaps they will. Perhaps the answer is to let them at least try. Perhaps the answer is to convince the Kashmiris that it is in their best interests to remain with India.

Whatever the answer is, what it isn’t is screaming, shouting and reacting incoherently by asking for the jailing of the person for sedition.

Talented writers like Ms. ARundhati Roy could do better internalizing and proliferating Gandhian ways of protest especially in riot prone region like J&K, for understanding, inculcating and practicing the Gandhian ways of life requires one to be true to oneself and hence acquire strength of character to challenge any brutality imposed on them by whosoever it may be successfully.

The day Politicians like SHEILA DIXIT would stop batting for Criminals like MANU SHARMA for illegal Paroll, 90% crimes would not take place at 1st place.. Another biggest problem in India is whenever Police catch any Suspect or Criminal the first thing they would do is to cover up their faces against Media and Public. It seems Police feels shame that they have got someone from their own. By this act Police don’t get feed back from Public and botch up the case with weak and lousy investigation. In US Police would first expose the Criminal to Media and seek Public feed backs on hot lines. By this way the prosecution could build up a strong case and the Criminal is out from society.